the pen is mightier than the sword

This phrasing due to Bulwer-Lytton, 1839. The sentiment is traditional, and has many antecedents; see Wikipedia.

• "If the pen is mightier than the sword in American history, it is more likely the pen of a novelist than the typewriter of a reporter — Harriet Beecher Stowe stimulating antislavery sentiment or Upton Sinclair enlisting citizens in outrage against the food-processing industry."
• "If my teachers had not told me that the pen is mightier than the sword, if my parents had not told me that I have to respect books, I would not have developed that respect for knowledge."

• actions speak louder than words